A prayer to remember

On July 23, the NASCAR Nationwide series stopped in Nashville, Tennessee. It was an evening that promised all-you-can-handle-and-some-you-can’t action, the sort of reckless redneckery of screaming engines and burning rubber that has made racing one of the most popular sports in America.

With all it’s modern equipment and cutting-edge technology, NASCAR is nonetheless steeped in tradition. Its roots run all the way back to Prohibition, and its drivers are for the most part good ol’ country boys. And every race begins with a prayer.

That night in Tennessee, the honor of providing the invocation fell on the shoulders of Pastor Joe Nelms, a Nashville local. With heads bowed, hats doffed, and cameras on, Pastor Joe took the microphone and prayed this:

What happened afterwards was the sort of media deluge that could only happen in the age of YouTube and social media. Pastor Joe Nelms became an overnight celebrity. ESPN had a field day. Newspapers, news channels, blogs, radio. All carried the prayer, all had the same question—Why?

Here’s what Pastor Nelms said in one interview:

“I want[ed] to get somebody’s attention, so that’s been our desire every time we’ve been up there, to try to make an impact on the fans and give them something they’ll remember, and maybe they’ll go home on a Friday night or a Saturday night and say, ‘Maybe I ought to get up and go to church in the morning.'”

And really, what better way to do that than to give thanks to mighty machines, GM performance technology, Sunoco racing fuel, Goodyear tires, and his smokin’ hot wife?

Now you’d probably be right in saying I caught wind of this and thought right off that Joe Nelms had just uttered a prayer the likes of which hadn’t been heard since Jesus Himself taught us to ask for our daily bread and to deliver us from evil. And why not? I wouldn’t consider myself a NASCAR guy, though I suspect I fit their target demographic of country-livin’, Levi-wearin’, tobacco-spittin’, jacked-up-Chevy drivin’ men.

But you know what? That’s not how I reacted. That’s not how I reacted at all.

And while I can appreciate the good Reverend’s intentions, I gotta say I was more than a little saddened. I was raised to take prayer sincerely. I close my eyes and bow my head with the knowledge that I am about to utter my feeble voice to the Lord of all creation, the Holy One who made not just me, but the farthest star and the tiniest atom. And more than that, He HEARS me. And more than even THAT, He cares about what I say, knows my words even before I speak them. Even before I think them.

It’s serious business, praying. And while I’m sure you realize God has a sense of humor—have you taken a look around lately?—I’m sure you also realize there is a time and a place. On bended knee is neither.

We live in a time when mockery of God is accepted, even cool. How many times a day do you hear, “Oh my God”? How many times do you get a text that contains OMG? How many times have you heard “Goddammit” on the television lately?

Plenty, I’d imagine, if you’re like me.

But we want to be cool. That’s the thing. We know our task is the Christian walk, but it’s a straight walk, a rigid one, so why not strut a little? Why not? If we dumb down God to make Him more accessible to people, more believable, more Jesus-would-have-a-beer-with-me, then is that such a bad thing?

Sometimes I think yes. It is.

God is not cool. I think we’d do well to remember that. I think we’d do well to keep close the treasured wisdom that He is big and holy and we are small and not. And I think it’s a good guess that what we often mistake as His laughter are really His tears.

Honestly—what did you think of that? Did you chuckle? Laugh? Or did you think something along the lines of, What the heck was that? Because I figure I’m either really, really right on this one, or really, really wrong.

Comments

My brow furrowed while he “prayed”. And I completely agree with you, that our society is taking God entirely too lightly. He has a wonderful sense of humor but this was going over the edge, in my opinion. I think if that pastor had been in Jesus’ presence at that moment that his words would have been completely different. Mercy Me has it right. I don’t know how I’ll respond in His presence but I’m pretty certain I won’t be a goofball.

I couldn’t agree more. I was saddened and offended that he could lower prayer to that degree. But then, I also find myself not liking most of the prayers before NASCAR races (I am a fan of the sport and just posted a blog about their attitude toward the National Anthem). I don’t like the prayers turning into an advertisement for all the sponsors, and a mini commentary on the upcoming race. The one person that I love to hear pray at the beginning of a race is Joe Gibbs. He prays with the reverence and respect that should be required and I always feel like I have been blessed by his prayers.

Thanks for speaking out on this. I was beginning to think I was the only one that didn’t find it funny.

The one word that keeps coming up for me is “irreverent”. When leading thousands of people in prayer I would expect a pastor to show more respect for God than that. Can you imagine speaking to Jesus like that face to face? Me either…

I’ve seen the video posted at a few different blogs — most with the “ain’t this a kick in the pants” sort of commentary. And honestly? I’ve been to afraid of what I was going to hear to hit the play button. I have the same “maybe I’m really backwards about this” sort of feeling you might have, Billy. But this disrespect? It makes me sad.

Finally! Someone in the blogosphere who isn’t taking this lightly. I agree with you 100%, and thank you for your tone of humility as you write. Were God to step down from Heaven, I am sure there would be no prayers of this nature, only falling on our face before a holy, awesome, fearful and beautiful God. Thank you for writing this.

(I rarely comment, but I read your every post. Your words and your heart have ministered to me so much.)

Hmmm…I hadn’t heard it but it sounds a bit like an advertisement. Smokin’ hot wife was the point he really lost me.

I’ve been thinking along these lines myself as I’ve been reading about the building of the tabernacle and the construction of the ark of the covenent in Exodus. Such precise instructions were given, down to the detail in the preists clothing. I am struck by the awe and reverence with which God was approached. We have certainly swung the other way. I feel this way in church quite often these days. So many people look like they just rolled out of bed and came on in. I’m all about being welcoming to everyone and I wouldn’t want people staying away because they have unfortunate circumstances in their lives and feel like they can’t afford a particular type of dress, but let’s be honest and say most of the people who have this look just couldn’t be bothered to clean up a little for worship. I’m not talking dressing to the nines, just taking a little bit of care to come into God’s house.

The people condemning this pastor remind me of the people who drove me away from Jesus for many years.

The uptight looking, “Jesus never had any fun” kind of people that seemed to be sitting on high condemning anyone who didn’t walk around with a frown throwing condemnation at anyone who didn’t look and act so uber-pious that the rest of the world would sit around and wonder what size stick was jammed up their butts and why they didn’t bother to try and pull it out.

It’s all about the outside impressions, right? Look “reverent”! “Clean up a little for worship”! Gotta make sure we have the image of the cowering Christian in front of the all powerful and mighty Oz! Er, God!

It was a NASCAR race, not the Crystal Cathedral. God knew the man’s heart and what the man was doing. That prayer was as much for the believer as those who think Christians are a bunch of arrogant jerks who think they’re better than other people. He was trying to show you can talk to God without going through the bells and whistles of the Old Testament priests.

You know, that little thing that Jesus did for us so we don’t have to make sacrifices and throw blood on the altar any more.

Back when I wasn’t a follower of Christ, a prayer like that would have reached me. I would have seen a Christian who I would have sat and listened to talk about Jesus because he didn’t seem to be a jerk about it. But that whole reaching people who don’t follow Christ thing isn’t really as important as looking pious, right?

Wow, thank you for standing up to this. I was interested in your take and honestly didn’t expect this. You struck the balance. You are a great writer with a quick wit, but you know when to be serious and reverent. Great post.

He was clearly basing his prayer on the prayer from the movie Talladega Nights. It’s almost word for word the same, including the smokin hot wife.

I kind of agree, and kind of don’t. I do agree that people are irreverent toward God, and it’s saddening. In the bible, when we see people who actually come face-to-face with God, they don’t talk to Him that way at all. They are scared to death. See Isaiah 6 for one of many examples.

The part I am not on board with is this: that prayer should be structured at all. That is, God wants to be conversational with Him. That’s part of the relational part of salvation. We always like to say “Christianity isn’t about rules; it’s a relationship.” Jesus said things like “depart from Me, I never knew you” to unbelievers, so there’s something to that personal relationship. “My sheep know My voice” is another example.

So if we are to be in a personal relationship with Him, shouldn’t we be able to talk to Him in prayer as if He were sitting in a chair across the table from us?

I guess my point is, irreverence is not a good thing when talking to God, but we can probably be more informal than we have been taught.

I have to agree. I think that was a bit over the top. There is a balance though that is sometimes hard to find. Viewing God as the amazing all powerful God He is and standing in awe and worship of that. Yet still realizing He cares for us and wants to be deeply involved in our lives.

I had to look up “boogity boogity boogity” in the urban online dictionary. I’m still unclear on the concept.
I don’t normally watch NASCAR, but I was waiting for a prayer for the health and safety of the drivers. Maybe I’m just overprotective.

boogity boogity boogity is a reference to one of the drivers who0 was present there.

Again, I mention the movie. It seems from some comments that not everyone is clear on the fact that the entire prayer was a reference to something else. Mostly, it referred to the movie. The last part referred to whatshisname’s signature line. Either way, the pastor didn’t just dream it up out of nowhere.
That doesn’t make it any less reverent. Just a point worth making.

I know the guy was trying to be hip and cool when he said his “prayer” (aka copy from Tallegedga Nights)…but considering everyone who came even remotely close to God in the old testament fell on thier face in both fear and awe….I was not impressed.

I think there is a big difference between Abba-Father and “boogity boogity boogity, amen”…

I agree, but I think there’s a danger of going to the other extreme, that’s all. God does want us to be conversational with Him, and I fear that some (at least people I grew up in church with) think He wants to be addressed with King James English.

WOW I guess I am not the old foggy that I thought I was! This was a fun night and even the prayer was a fun prayer! Yes, it is a prayer to remember for sure. I can imagine that heaven is still chatting about this prayer too! And God is also still smiling at his Pastor friend. I don’t believe God felt mocked but rather that he laughed along with others in the audience at the whole advertisement thing. Yes, I agree that God is holy and we need to respect and be at awe in his presence, but I also know some of my prayers are off the wall and they often get answers.

Honestly: I did both. I laughed, but it was more of shock than of humor. When entering the presence of Almighty God, even though He’s my Father and my Friend, I’m not going to treat Him with less respect than I would the president of the United States, even if the president was my father and/or my friend. He deserves more respect, not less. Pick any treasured mentor/friend relationship – Yoda and the jedi knights, Gandalf and the rest of the Fellowship of the Ring, Trap and Abramm (if you haven’t read the Legends of the Guardian King by Karen Hancock, I highly recommend them), any pair you want – even Gilligan and Skipper to a degree – no matter how much banter, how much humor, how much of anything happens, there’s always a degree of respect. If our authors and television writers and movie writers know to put that into human (or at least non-divine) relationships, how much more should we, the redeemed, give that respect to our Father, our Savior, and yes, our Friend?

If God can accept our anger, then surely He can accept our humor. Mocking God is one thing, but I don’t think this man was mocking God. I think God probably smiled at this prayer. God may have been pleased with this prayer, we don’t know. I mean, just look at the number of people who wouldn’t have thought about (or talked about) God otherwise, but have – because of this very prayer. I know I have never said a prayer that caused millions of people, (many of them unbelievers), to think about God. But I also know that fear of being criticized for not knowing the “right” things to say during prayer has often prevented me from praying publicly.

I love is that they begin the NASCAR races with prayer, even if to many it’s an empty ritual.

I love it that the preacher put his heart into it and I kept thinking as I listened, maybe it’s because he’s from the South. The more I thought about it, however, the more uncomfortable it made me. Thanks for putting into words with your usual skill what I’ve been feeling.

That prayer was over the top on breezy informality and audacity.

You said it well. God is holy and we are not. Holy. Perfect. Without spot or blemish or sin. That alone should fill us with awe.

Honestly – I did laugh. That was my initial response. I see your point, about taking prayer seriously. Knowing, appreciating what a privilege it is. But I really don’t think that he was mocking God. He was giving thanks in all things. Maybe could have done without the boogities.

You’re not wrong on this one, Billy. I happen to agree with you that prayer is something to take seriously—deadly seriously—and the God Who loves bigger than all other love is also the one God to be feared.